If they have a croupy (barking or deep) cough, something that helps immensely with almost all children is taking them out in the cold air. Bundle them up, and take them out to breathe the cold air. you can go out in the garage where it isn't windy or what not, but the cold air brings down the swelling in the bronchioles and the lungs.

My 4 YO is prone to these coughs and has been since he was 12 months old. The ER doc we saw when he was a year old told us this when the deep cough went away when we brought him in, but came back when we went back home. Every 2 to 3 hours or whenever the cough got bad again, we took him outside for 2 or 3 minutes, and it cleared it up for another few hours, no medication needed.

We still do this, did it at 3 AM on vacation in November when he came down with a cough, and it cleared up enough for him to sleep, did it this morning.

*hugs* Hope it helps and everyone is feeling better soon!

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Laura, Wife to my best friend, Mommy to Alex , 9-14-04, and Lucas , 8-20-07
1 in 110 children in the US have an Autism Spectrum Disorder and I'm proud that two of them are mine.